Forward/center Jontay Porter, who was on a two-way contract with the Raptors this season, has been banned from the NBA, the league announced today in a news release.
“A league investigation found that Porter violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors," the league said in a statement, "limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games."
The NBA began investigating Porter last month due to betting-related irregularities. The Raptors big man exited games early on Jan. 26 and March 20, reportedly due to a re-aggravation of an eye injury and an illness, respectively.
The “unders” on Porter-related prop bets on those days received heavy action at sports books, including DraftKings. Prop bets allow bettors to wager on whether individual players will reach certain statistical benchmarks (e.g. points, rebounds, assists, etc.) in a game.
According to the release from the NBA, the league’s investigation turned up the following details, which resulted in Porter’s lifetime ban:
According to the NBA, its investigation is ongoing and could result in additional findings. The league had discovered enough to this point to make the decision not to allow Porter to play in the NBA again.
The league also stated that it has shared – and will continue to share – its findings with federal prosecutors.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter‘s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” commissioner Adam Silver said in Wednesday’s release. “While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players. Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game.”
Porter, who is the younger brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., represented a feel-good story when he caught on with the Raptors this season, since he overcame a series of injuries – including a pair of ACL tears – to make it back to the NBA for the first time since 2021.
In 26 games for Toronto this season, including five starts, the 24-year-old averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 13.8 minutes per night.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, Porter earned $415K this season, pushing his career NBA earnings to approximately $2.8M. He would have been eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.
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